Pubdate: Fri, 11 Jul 2008
Source: Mountain Press, The (TN)
Copyright: The Mountain Press 2008
Contact:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=29620&BRD=1211&PAG=461&dept_id=169702&
Website: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1211
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1995

WHO'S SORRY NOW?

A simple apology would go a long way to helping matters in
wrong-arrest case

For the most part law enforcement officers try to do what's right.
Sometimes, though, things go wrong. And when law enforcement makes a
mistake, lives are affected. A Seymour man knows just how the wrongly
accused feel.

Due to what appears to have been mistaken identity from an incorrect
address, James Russell Kitts was charged last month with trafficking
in illegal drugs. That followed an indictment from the Sevier County
Grand Jury, based on actions by U.S. marshals and local law
enforcement. A grand jury can only deal with the information it is
given, and in this case the jurors got information that turned out to
be very, very wrong.

Kitts works for UPS, and when officers couldn't find him at home they
went to his place of business, thus making sure Kitts' employers knew
he was about to be arrested for drug charges. False drug charges. He
was taken to Sevier County Jail, where bond was set at $150,000.

Kitts must have felt himself in the middle of a nightmare. How do you
prove to people that he's the wrong man, that he is no drug dealer and
never has been? Enter Sevierville attorney Bryan Delius, who cut short
a vacation to come back and help Kitts. Delius got the bond reduced to
$20,000 so Kitts could get out of jail. Then they set about to prove
his innocence. Sheriff Ron Seals, not responsible for the bad arrest,
helped. Turns out the bad information had come from the 4th Judicial
District's Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. Blount County officials
called over to say Kitts was not the guy. Kitts finally was cleared of
any wrongdoing and got his job back. His reputation will be a little
slower in being restored.

So you'd think those responsible for this egregious and damaging
mistake would come forward to apologize. According to Delius they
haven't. Nobody from the drug task force or the district attorney's
office has offered any explanation or apology, Delius told The
Mountain Press. Kitts was the wrong guy and, faced with the evidence,
they just cut him loose.

James Russell Kitts is a hard-working Sevier County man who, through
no fault of his own, got tagged with a bogus drug arrest. A simple
apology from somebody responsible seems the least he should get for
what had to have been a horrible and scary several days. Somebody
needs to say "We're sorry." At least.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin